Ask HN: Is it ok to use the same name as an existing service?

6 points

11 years ago

I had an idea for a side project/service late last year and but haven't had time to implement it yet (busy with $DAY_JOB). I did get the .com domain and the major social media properties for it. They were all unregistered so I registered them all. All of it is still empty as I haven't started work on it.

I recently noticed that someone else has created the exact service I was envisioning with the exact same name. As the .com was taken (by me) they registered it with a different suffix.

Ex: I was planning foobarservice with the domain foobarservice.com and they registered (and went live with) foobarservice.blah.

I'd still like to pursue this idea and I really like the name.

Would it be wrong to do so? Answers for both the moral and (IANAL-qualified...) legal question would be appreciated.

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